repeter | JANUARY 2018 TDM

TEST DRIVE

JANUARY TEST DRIVE
The city of Recollé...

What do you mean the city's behaving for once?

I.
The large opaque dome enveloping the entire city continues to stand tall and firm, though this may be the first time you've noticed the dome itself rather than believe it's simply an eclipse effect. Faintly reflective in appearance but blocking the outside world, the dome still allows the warmth of the weak winter sunlight to seep through. It isn't hard to breathe, and the flora and fauna seem to be responding just as naturally as always. But the city of Recollé is pitch black except for the light citizens shine themselves.

The dome stretches incredibly high over the city, but anyone who can get close enough to it will find that they can briefly see themselves in the surface. Upon touching the dome, it appears to be smooth and almost rubbery in texture despite a shell-like shield appearance. Soundproof and unable to provide clues to what's happening outside of the city the dome is also harmless for those who wish to touch it and examine it, causing it to bounce a few times under light impact. However, do be careful not to trigger its defense mode! Should anyone attempt to damage the dome itself, it will light up with a bright, sickening blue color for three seconds before delivering a shock to its attacker and rendering them unconscious for an hour. Perhaps you'll get lucky and you'll only deal with the too-hot-to-touch surface that self-activates when the dome is threatened, or the spikes that appear at the source of impact. The dome seems to have a temperament of its own. It may be best to treat it the way you want to be treated.

II.
Going about your normal day, the darkness seems endless aside from whatever light can be shed via flashlights, cell phones and interior lights inside buildings. However, as you wander the streets of the city, under your feet a swirl of yellow light appears before darting ahead, bouncing and bobbing its way over snow and concrete to create a clear path for you. It's a little convenient to have a guide to follow, but you're not the only one. Others around you are following their own lights and they all seem to gather right at the entrance of the old subway station. Perpetually under construction for as long as you can remember, the station appears to be wide open for anyone who ventures in.

The light will guide you for roughly twenty-five feet before it dies down again. You're allowed to turn back, of course. There's nothing stopping you...except for the vine that suddenly snakes along the ground and wraps around your ankle, hooking onto you and beginning to drag you further into the tunnels. Now would be a good time to start calling for help.

III.

Back in the city itself, it's hard to say who, exactly, is to blame for the first hit. People are minding their own business and moving on as if everything is perfectly natural as usual. However, in addition to the hustle and bustle small barrels appear on every street corner with an assortment of colored guns. The moment you step up to investigate one of these barrels it becomes a little more clear what, exactly, is happening here.

A bright red, green, or blue dot appears on your skin as the laser light hones in on you. Someone's decided to make you their next target in a city-wide game of laser tag and you have precisely ten seconds to run. For anyone tagged by the guns, a confetti-effect of red green and blue dots will appear all over you lasting for up to fifteen minutes before you're back in the game.

Will you grab your weapons and join the game? Or will you dodge as long as you can?

IV.
As the evening sets in, there's a smell in the air. It's not the usual winter-y scent of peppermint or warm soup or anything like that. No, you soon realize that the smell is buttered popcorn and now instead of the barrels of laser tag guns there are carts containing popcorn machines, bottles of soda, candy and more. These carts don't move and they do not seem to be manned by anybody so feel free to take as much as you'd like! At precisely 7pm, the street lights dim a little and the dome above you starts to...glow? It glows and a picture stretches all the way across the sky as a movie begins to play for your enjoyment. Maybe it's the first of the Galaxy Fights series, or it could be that crazy archaeologist turned fortune-hunter Kentucky Smith. The movies will rotate one after the other for the rest of the evening until 7am when the street lamps come on, but for now grab some blankets and a good seat. There's always time for a movie with some friends.

BONUS.
Of course communication to people outside of the city is still out of the question. Of course it is. There are absolutely no signs of that changing anytime soon no matter how many times you call or text or email. Snail mail is nearly impossible and don't even think about videochatting.

On the other hand, it seems as though the powerlines above are beginning to spark, pulsing in patterns of a bright blue color visible to the naked eye. What's up with that? Trying to get a closer look will only reveal a thick, crackling sort of energy that is surely not dangerous in the slightest and is nothing to worry about.

The energy won't leave the powerlines at all, but instead the next time you use your phone for anything a song activates instead. It's loud and it can't be shut down, but once it ends you may find yourself in a video chat with a fellow Retrospec user. Say hi!

Welcome to the

recolle test drive meme! All characters will be begin in-game AU'd as Recollé residents. You may use any of the above prompts for ideas or make up your own depicting your Recollé AU! Prompts do not have to be set in the districts listed above. You can review our list of locations for what's available. Please note that TDM threads can be used as samples, can be kept as game canon, and can also be used for bonus points for future item regains. Share a few minor details of your AU, tag around, and have fun!

For current players, please remember that TDM threads can only be used for bonus points, not regains.

Please note: you will need a reserve to apply, and current characters must have full AC posted at the time of their reservation.

Your January TDM directory is here, and your AU workshop is here! Our mod questions thread for this TDM is over here!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[crap. not only did someone see her react, but it was somebody she knew. Anna sighed and rolled her eyes at herself before even listening to what Kara was saying.]

I guess? Sure. Now will you shut up about me being the last person in the city to see this? [admittedly she hadn't expected this to be resolved so literally. she had to admit she was enjoying herself, but she didn't have to show it.]

Didn't think this was going to turn into a greatest hits of cultural appreciation all of a sudden.

[Kara's grin is nothing short of smug, but she holds out a bag of popcorn for Anna if she wants. Oh, no comment, not at all.]

You and me both. Freaky how this dome just seemed to come outta nowhere. I don't remember it before yesterday. What about you?

[she won't be taking any quite yet, but she does give it a look before leveling a stare at Kara as if to say "really?". it softens, though, because jesus has she wanted someone else to acknowledge how weird this is.]

I'm just glad someone else is talking about it. Between this and the laser tag crap I thought I was finally losing it. Are we just, like, the dumbest people in the world?

No.

[Kara leans back against the bricks of the building, lowering the bag and trying not to sound bothered. With marginal success, most likely.]

I looked back through the network this Retrospec App uses basically as soon as I realized I couldn't get rid of it. It's a repeating cycle. Every other month or so, a new batch of apps gets released. Without the app, you apparently don't notice the changes.

Really? Huh.

[she's been a little too busy to look through random apps on her phone, which is of course just her excuse, but at least this isn't coming totally out of the blue. that doesn't make it make sense, of course.]

So what, is this like forced AR now or something? Are we all playing whatever game this app says we need to be playing? Because I'm opting out. I don't have time for this.

I'm not sure it's AR. I think the app is more...a filter that lets us see the real.

[Which is every bit as eerie.]

'Least, if the chatter on the network is accurate.

And I refuse to believe that either one of us failed to notice the sun had stopped shining more than a week ago.

Felt like a total idiot when that one hit me.

[she mutters that, but she's really just trying to piece all this crap together.]

So this is just reality? No augments, just what everything is? And it's been like this... forever? [she thunks her head against the wall and shuts her eyes.] Great. This was the last goddamn thing I needed.

Doesn't really change anything, in the long term.

[Kara leans back, closing her eyes and breathing in the crisp air.]

It just means we have a few things to adjust to. But the plants are growing and the sky's playing movies. Doesn't seem like the world's stopped spinning, either.

Yeah, sure, I guess.

[she's got a point. a bunch of them, really. but Anna's nothing if not bitter, especially about sudden changes that she has no control over.]

Is every city like this, though? Like, did something happen out there? Don't tell me you're not thinking about this.

Of course I'm thinking about it.

[But she shakes her head, regardless.]

Unfortunately I can't reach anything beyond the dome. Everything seems cut off. No way to be sure but I doubt that anything a serious as nuclear war went on. For one thing, we're presumably being supplied water from outside the dome and nobody is getting sick. There's no signs of soil corrosion either.

I think we'll just have to wait and see, on most of it.

[well, that's. good. at least the world hasn't been destroyed outside, probably. but—hm. maybe being cut off from the outside world isn't so bad. lot of people out there that Anna wants nothing to do with anymore. and this will stop her from doing any destructive social media searching.]

That explains why it's been so dead at work lately. [it's just a small realization, but it does make sense.] I'm bad at waiting and seeing. But if there really isn't anything else to do until more answers just get thrown at us, fine. I'll sit here and let the world decide crap at me until it says it's my turn again.

[yeah, no she won't.]

[Kara nods slowly, taking a breath and considering what exactly to say to that. So many puzzle pieces were falling into place now, including why she hadn't been able to get back any test data from that lab in Albuquerque. Her mind raced as always,skittering over possibilities, but there were too many, and it was just so much information...enough to make her feel dizzy. She swayed slightly, but just leaned more on the building.]

Yeah. I'm sorry, Anna. I wish I had more positive news, but I just...yeah. Just laying out what I know.

[She closes her eyes and breathes out through her nose.]

Fuck me, this is a lot to process. But at least I'm not the only one. Neither are you. There's dozens of people on this network. That's something, at least.

You want me to keep you abreast of anything I find?

JANUARY 2018 TDM

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I'm sorry! I thought I replied to this!